Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

It seems our family moved from Dunoon, Argyll, to my father’s house in Edinburgh, at 2 Chesser Loan around 1942-1943. My mother lived on her own with her three young children for most of the time; my father was stationed elsewhere, mainly at Sunderland between 1942 and 1945. But, the exact date when my mother moved from Strone, Argyll to Edinburgh is unclear. In fact, it is quite complicated!

Sandy at 10 Months

On this photo of my eldest brother Sandy, my mother has written: “Sandy 10 months when we lived in Dunoon Sandba.” She was going to write ‘Sandbank’, but crossed it out. My brother was born 14th June 1942. In other words, this photo was taken around the middle of April in 1943.

My father burnt his hand and arm when the launch he was on caught on fire at Strone Pier, Argyll on 26th July, 1943 (three months later). My father was sent to Cowal Hospital, Dunoon. He exchanged letters with my mother when he was in hospital (August – 1943) when my mother had moved to Edinburgh. Exactly why she moved to Edinburgh from Dunoon is unclear, but my father had probably received instructions that he was going to be stationed at Sunderland. 

There are many hypotheses that can emerge here; some I’ve already written about in a separate post:

Strone and Dunoon

My mother crossed out the word ‘Sandbank’ on the photo and just wrote ‘Dunoon’. The simple explanation here is that although Strone is on the opposite side of the loch to Dunoon, it is often written: Strone, Argyll, Dunoon, Scotland. 

Rannoch Cottage

Exactly why my mother gave birth to Sandy at Rannoch Cottage is unclear – but this was probably for practical reasons. But it seems unlikely they lived there. 

Mardrumho Cottage

In some of the letters, my father mentions “coming home drunk”. At a guess, I would say that after my father stopped working at Liverpool, he might have started working again at Ardnadam, Dunoon. In other words, they might have lived together for a short period in Mardrumho Cottage, Strone, Dunoon. This would also explain the fact that there are few letters (if any) dated for 1942 – because they were living together. There are also few letters written from Liverpool suggesting that he was only there for a short period.

Strone Pier Accident

Why did my father take the launch to Strone Pier on 26 July 1943? The photo says “where we lived in Dunoon” – Sandy 10 months – mid-April, 1943. In other words, there is a 3-month gap between the photo and the accident. During this period my mother may have moved to Edinburgh after they received news that my father was being stationed in Sunderland. Or perhaps my mother was still in Strone on the day of the accident? 

Another hypothesis is that my father was taking the launch to Mardrumho Cottage to pick up some furniture that was still in the cottage after my mother moved out – and this was how he burnt his hand and arm trying to rescue his own furniture which had been transported to the launch. In other words, the launch had caught fire on leaving the pier, and my father had tried to rescue his own furniture. 

Of course, another hypothesis is that they also lived at Rannoch Cottage in April 1943 – but this is not mentioned in any of the letters, so this seems unlikely. 

The need of a séance

Some hypotheses can be proved to be true. But it seems we will never know the exact truth as the actors of this drama (my parents) both died long ago. So perhaps we need a séance to communicate with the dead to establish the truth?

Naval duties in Rangoon

This is a photo of my father in his uniform at 2 Chesser Loan. It is probably taken in 1945. The war ended on September 2, 1945, but my father remained in service; as mentioned, he continued serving in the navy for an additional year. 

The photo of my father at Chesser Loan in 1945 may be related to the fact that Germany had surrendered (May 1945), but Japan did not surrender until later (September). The photo may have been taken prior to my father travelling to Burma in 1945. 

Part of the answer to this riddle is my elder brother’s (Alistair) ‘National ID card,’ (shown here) which shows that the family were registered at 2 Chesser Loan on July 14, 1945. This is also conclusive evidence that my family never lived at Ryhope Road, Sunderland, where my brother Alistair was born. In other words, he was born on July 5th 1945 – but by July 14th (nine days later), they had moved to Edinburgh. This also suggests that my parents did not live at Rannoch Cottage in Dunoon either. It seems my mother preferred to give birth in places they had rented rather than where they were staying, or in hospital (for various reasons).

In the ‘Sunderland letters’ my father had talked about moving to Sunderland – but it seems this never materialised. In the letters, my father mentions that there is a ’20-mile restriction’ – in other words, he was not allowed to travel more than 20 miles from base – the distance between Sunderland and Edinburgh is much more than 20 miles.

2 Chesser Loan photos

There are not many quality photos of my father’s house in Edinburgh (2 Chesser Loan) amongst my mother’s photos. I only found some ‘up-to-date’ photos on the Internet.

The interesting aspect of the house is the way it is built. The house is built from ‘natural stone’ of some sort. Obviously, people living in Edinburgh would know more about what sort of stone this is. But, in our context, the ‘natural stone’ helps us identify the place and time of the various photos that feature this ‘natural stone’ in the background. Another distinguishing feature is the special type of mantel over the front door shown in the photos.    

Conversation with my brother Gavin (Feb 2023)

2 Chesser Loan as a ‘maisonette’

In the photo below to the right, there is a door at the end of the house (to the right). The mantel over the door is probably part of a construction enabling a staircase. In other words, this door leads up to the first floor of the house. This seems to be the case as there is a small window above the door which provides some light.

Gavin pointed out something that I hadn’t noticed from the photographs – that there are three entrances (perhaps four – but the fourth door is probably on the far side of the house). Gavin suggested that the house, or rather their ‘apartment’ was a maisonette. 

What is a maisonette?

A maisonette is a self-contained flat or apartment within a larger building. It usually has its own front door to the outside. Unlike flats or apartments, maisonettes are not usually accessed from a communal entrance and hallway.⁴⁴

Gavin pointed out that when he had read the letters written between my mother and father at this time – the apartment seemed to consist of two rooms. 

This makes a lot of sense. My grandfather was an electrician, and probably didn’t have a high salary. Moreover, he only had one child – my father, so he wouldn’t need a large house. However, despite the fact that this was a modest property, it was still a ‘property’. It was the first step along the road to joining the middle class! I haven’t investigated in detail, but I think his parents lived in rented property. Such information is not always that clear in census reports.

Photos of My Elder Brothers at Chesser Loan

Stuart’s hair appears practically blonde in the photo with Sandy, but when he was older, it was jet-black. The other interesting point is the toy train. I also had a toy train that my father threw on a November 5th bonfire. However, the toy train in this photo appears to be manufactured; whereas, I think my father built my toy train with his own hands (which I had perhaps inherited from an elder brother).

This thought reveals two or three things about my father: he was a skilled craftsman, and well, he was an engineer! To avoid spending money on toys and household repairs, he would make toys for his kids (such as during Christmas). I used to joke that my father could fix anything with a hammer, some nails, and a piece of string. At the same time, he was not the ‘sentimental’ type in the sense that he wouldn’t have asked before he threw my train on the bonfire!

Because of the unique patterning of the natural stone in the background, it is easy to identify 2 Chesser Loan in this photograph. 

⁴⁴ A maisonette is what is known as a split level apartment, a duplex or a duplex apartment in the USA.